![Queer 16-year-old Mason, who uses any and all pronouns, sits down on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia.
“I was just asking myself, ‘What type of person am I? Who am I to myself?’ Like, when I look in the mirror, ‘Who do I see? Who do I feel like I am,’” Mason said of the questions he asked himself early on in his coming out process. “I think I don't really have those [specific identity labels] for myself. I do see other people around who have those that are in the queer community. But, yeah, for myself, I wouldn't really say I have one.”
“I think [my parents have] been very reassuring in the fact that they accept me for who I am. They still know that I'm their son, and they love me,” Mason said. “And, I can't say that for a lot of other people who have had problems with their identity and just really figuring out who they are. I'm lucky to have that. I'm glad I had that. But, I wish there were more parents or just people out there that were more accepting to this idea [of being queer].”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ba5f38e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x1164+0+0/resize/840x558!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2Fab%2Fbda94349471cbb8887367225b7cd%2F20240521-bas-queer-joy-mason-graham-0064.jpg)
16-year-old high schooler Mason is queer and uses any pronouns. Mason spoke about how he doesn’t align himself with exclusively a masculine or feminine identity, as people are more complex than those two labels.
Alphabet Soup shares LGBTQ+ Missourians’ stories through portraiture and personal narratives.
Mason: It sort of started – I don’t know really? I guess I always just questioned myself as a kid.
I didn't. I was like, “I don't really like anyone that much,” I think like, “Who am I really? What am I doing here?”
And it's less on just how you are sexuality, it’s more about just yourself and figuring out who you are, and that's a difficult thing for a lot of people.
Being in middle school was like – a very hard time during that questioning period – where I was just like, “Do I? Don't I?” And I think I feel a lot more comfortable now that I've asked my, those questions to myself before I got to the later stages of my life.
I was just asking myself, “What type of person am I? Who am I to myself? Like, when I look in the mirror, who do I see?”
Since I'm very much more of a direct person – so, I know a lot of people don't do this – but I just had like a simple conversation. Just like, “Hey, this is who I am,” and that's basically how the conversation went with my parents.
It was just like, “This is who I am,” and they just said, “Okay.”
And I know, it's probably something they still think about, but I know that they won't judge me for who I am or anything like that. I can't say the same for other people.
But, for my experience, I was just very plain and basic, and I think there was really no pressure, and that's what I enjoyed about it was – not enjoyed, but just made it nice – was that I didn't have to explain in great detail. I could just say it and they would understand.
I don't really feel like I convey more of a masculine or feminine identity, I'm more of just like – I don't want to say an in between area – but just like, I feel like people are a lot more complicated than just those masculine and feminine identities. So, I just don't really label myself as either.
And I feel like they're very broad terms that just sort of put us in boxes. I don't think a woman or a man has to dress a certain way.
I think expression is a very important thing and key thing in life. What I mean is just that you got to go out there and you've just got to live life without worrying about how you present yourself or, you know, how you look.
It's just, you know, be comfortable with yourself in your own body.
